The Governor held a press conference this afternoon that detailed updated public health measures related to businesses that go into effect on Friday.

Restaurants are still allowed to operate at 25% capacity, but with certain conditions. To remain open for indoor dining restaurants must obtain the New Mexico Safe Certification. It is available online and free of charge at https://nmsafecertified.org/. Second, they will have to submit to random employee testing and finally a customer log book will now be a requirement for contract tracing and not just a recommendation.

Retail businesses that incur four Rapid Responses within a 14-day period will be required to close for 14 days and take mitigating action. Additionally the NM Environment Dept. is standing up a more robust link on their website that will list businesses with the most Rapid Responses and they will release those numbers regularly to the press. The Environment Dept. also intends to selectively ramp up enforcement in places that are seen as “hotspots.”

All retail businesses will also be required to close at 10 p.m. like restaurants were required to do with the change last week.

Since restaurant operation has been tied so closely to the New Mexico Safe Certified program we highly recommend that all businesses go online and obtain that certification. It should help you keep employees and customers safe and could put you a step ahead if further mandates come down.

While these additional health measures do not make us very happy we need to understand that our local health and emergency management officials have recently told us that we’re in a bad situation as far as our ability to transfer a patient out of our hospital for advanced care, whether that is for Coronavirus, cardiac or some other reason. We ask everyone to do their part in helping keep this virus at bay in our community and get our schools and businesses back open 100% as quickly as possible.

For the full press release on today’s announcements click here.

Karl Terry, Executive Director
Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce
100 S. Avenue A
Portales, NM  88130
(575) 356-8541 or (800) 635-8036